LEESBURG, Fla.— Wisconsin faced Eastern Kentucky and No. 13 Virginia Tech in a double-header on Friday afternoon at the Northern Light Tournament and split Friday's games, defeating Eastern Kentucky 12-2 and falling 5-4 to No. 13 Virginia Tech.
The Badgers started the day off strong, defeating Eastern Kentucky 12-2 thanks to some strong Badger bats. Tied at 1-1 after two full innings, Wisconsin added two runs in both the fourth and fifth inning, RBI's were credited to
Christaana Angelopulos,
Ellie Hubbard,
Jolie Fish and
Ally Miklesh throughout the middle innings.
The Badgers then went on to string together six runs in the sixth inning, taking a 12-1 lead going into the bottom of the sixth. The long inning in favor of Wisconsin started out with a
Kayla Konwent single up the middle followed by a string of walks that scored the first run of the inning. Two more singles from Fish and Konwent would bring in the remaining runners on base for a big inning from the plate for Wisconsin.
Eastern Kentucky put up one run in the sixth inning and the final score sat at 12-2.
Freshman
Ellie Hubbard led the way for Wisconsin going 3-5 on the game including an RBI from the lead-off position in the lineup. Konwent and Miklesh both finished with two hits each while
Fiona Girardot scored four of Wisconsin's runs, touching the plate each time she reached base.
Looking to bring momentum against its second ranked opponent already this season, Wisconsin then went on to play a second game, losing 5-4 to No. 13 Virginia Tech.
Scoreless through three innings with both pitchers, include Wisconsin's sophomore lefty
Ava Justman, dealing in the circle, the Badgers were first to score off of a
Brooke Kuffel walk and Fish single.
In the third time around the order for the Hokies, Virginia Tech tallied five runs in the fifth inning alone as Justman finished the day going 5 ⅔ innings with three strikeouts and allowing six hits.
Enter junior
Tessa Magnanimo in relief for the Badgers who pitched a key 2 1/3 innings, holding Virginia Tech scoreless heading into last up's for Wisconsin.
Not going out without a fight, the Badgers put up three runs in the seventh inning,drawing three walks and forcing a Virginia Tech pitching change. Finishing the game with bases loaded, Wisconsin came up just short of its first walk-off win of the season.
Up Next: Wisconsin will face Akron and No. 11 Missouri in a double header on Saturday afternoon. The game against Akron will start at Noon CST and the game against Missouri will start at 2:30 p.m. Both games will be streamed on FloSoftball.
